MSU wrestling nearly upsets No. 18 Minnesota

Michigan State wrestling had No. 18 Minnesota on the ropes and the Spartans nearly pulled off the upset before the Gophers bounced back late and overtook MSU, 20-17, Friday night at Jenison Field House in the Spartans’ Big Ten home opener.

The Spartans won four bouts behind redshirt freshman Logan Griffin at 125 pounds, No. 12-ranked junior Javier Gasca at 141, senior Nick Trimble at 149 and freshman Drew Hughes at 165 for a 17-9 MSU advantage before Minnesota countered by winning four of the last five bouts, including the last three to overtake Michigan State and deny the upset bid.

“I think a little bit of youthfulness came out in the guys towards the end. They fought hard, and they’ve bought into everything we were telling them this week which was hand fighting and lasting an entire match,” MSU head coach Roger Chandler said.  “I think in the last two matches our guys were probably respecting their opponent a little too much. In our sport, we need to just go out there and do what we do best.”

Friday was the Spartans’ third match in their last four against a Top 25 team after last Sunday’s bouts with No. 7 Nebraska and No. 25 Princeton.

“We are very realistic about where we are as a program,” Chandler said. “We set expectations in the beginning of the year and in order to be where we want to be at the end of the year or future years, you have to commit to the process. The process is that we are going to train, commit to being great, and compete to be great."